speech therapy words that start with k

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K Word List

Speech therapy materials.

If your child is having trouble saying the sound K, my K Word List page can help!

If you are a speech therapist and you need some K speech therapy materials, you have come to the right place!

Below you will find lots of free materials!

• First, there is a FREE worksheet (for non-members) and link (for members) to access new articulation materials.
• Second, there is a word list for  quick viewing .
• Next, you can sign up for a FREE newsletter and receive  A LL THE WORD LISTS in one Folder in your Google Drive.
• After that, check out a brief explanation on how to say the target sound.
• Last, there are ideas for  articulation practice  that do not require flashcards or word lists. This is the most functional option and appropriate for children working on generalization.

Enjoy the FREE materials!!!

K Worksheets and More!

We have articulation worksheets for teaching, drill practice, generalization, and language based artic games! 

• If you are a member, log in, download, and you are ready to roll  here.
• If you want to join,  sign up here. 

To access a free smashmat, just fill out the form below!

21 free smashmats.

Sign up below to receive your free materials.

Google Drive Word List

Sign up with your email address to receive all the word lists instantly! They will be yours now and forever!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Google Drive. I can access my word lists from any device; laptop, desktop, or phone.

If you want a copy, fill out the form above. I put all the word lists in one folder.  Once you receive your email with the materials, make a copy of the files and they are yours to use and tweak as needed.

• If you need help saving the word lists to your Google Drive, click here:  Save Google Document
• If you LOVE Google Drive as much as I do, check out our  Speech Therapy Documentation Page. 

Complete K Articulation Packet

This is MY FAVORITE NEW RESOURCE! I HONESTLY use it all the time for each articulation session and handouts for home practice.

The words chosen for speech therapy can make all the difference between a good therapy program and a great one! For the generalization phase, it is crucial to use high-frequency words!! It only makes sense to use words that the client will actually say outside of the therapy room. Right?!

For only $5, you will receive  35 pages  of materials including:

• Flashcards that can be used as Cariboo Cards too, yeah!
• Flashcard free games that can be used as home practice
• Dot sheets, smash-mats, and/or coloring pages
• Articulation warm-up sheets which can be used as a goal review sheet
• Flashcards which contain word, phrase, and sentence level practice
• Cut/paste sentence level worksheets
• Self-assessment sheets
• Parent handouts

Check it out here

How To Say k

We say “k” by putting the back of our tongue in the back of our mouth. Some tips to help your child:

• Tell your child to move the tongue to the back of the mouth
• Have your child cough and feel that the tongue is in the back of their mouth
• Lightly touch his//her throat as he/she says “k”

Functional Games for K

K is an earlier developing sound. Therefore, the games listed below are for younger children. Tweak the games to meet the needs of your child. Take turns with your child saying the desired words. It is important to practice  hearing  and  saying  the sound.

• Kick - Say “kick” as you kick a ball
• Car - Say “car” as you push a car
• Cake - Say “cake” as you color or bake a cake
• Color - Say “color” when you pick a new crayon up while coloring
• Chicken - Say “chicken” to have the other dance and cluck like a chicken
• Baking - Pretend to bake cookies. Say “baking” while the food bakes
• Ice Cream - Make ice cream out of paper. Talk about ice cream during the project
• Lick - Say “lick” while you lick an ice cream cone
• Rock - Say “rock” as you find rocks around the yard
• Duck - Say “duck” during bath as you play with rubber ducks

These games can be played at home or anywhere. Adapt any game your child is already playing to squeeze in some fun “K” practice.

Membership Site

If you are a parent and your child

• has trouble saying multiple sounds 
• needs to work on vocabulary development
• is working on grammar skills
• needs to practice following directions
• needs to work on narrative language
• is working on social skills

AND you want

• a step-by-step guide on how to help your child 
• ideas on how to improve all language skills at home
• functional games

Then, our  member's site  might be just what you need. Click  here  to read more about it.

If you are a professional and you want: 

• Articulation Screening Tools
• Data tracking sheets
• Templates in Google Drive for easy data tracking and graphing
• Homework sheets/parent handouts on articulation therapy
• General flashcard games
• 36 flashcards for each sound: B, D, F, G, J, K, L, M, N, P, R, S, T, V, Z, SH, TH, CH
• 8-10 functional games for each sound
• Language-based worksheets to spice things up!
• Picture description tasks
• Short story stimuli

Our  membership might be just what you need.

• Word Lists For Speech Therapy
• K Word List For Speech Therapy

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Initial and Final K Words for Speech Therapy

If you’re a speech-language pathologist looking for a quick list of initial and final k target words to practice during therapy, this post is a great place to start! You’ll also find some great ideas for making therapy more fun with a variety of engaging games, resources, and speech therapy activities for teaching the k sound. Not only does this blog post provide a list of initial and final k words, it also suggests a variety of strategies for teaching correct placement.

This post contains affiliate links, which means we could receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended.

Correct Production of K

The k sound is a voiceless, lingua-velar sound. The front of the tongue (the tongue tip) is placed behind the front lower teeth. The back of the tongue is lifted, or raised, during k production. It makes contact with the soft palate. This forms a seal. Air pressure builds up behind the tongue. When the soft palate seal breaks, we hear an explosion of air as it is released into the oral cavity.

Common K Sound Errors

Sometimes, students with articulation disorders or phonological disorders have difficulty producing the k sound. They often exhibit t/k substitution. Phonological processes, such as velar fronting or final consonant deletion, may also impact velar consonants. K speech sound errors do not just occur in the initial position, medial position, or final position of words. The k sound also frequently occurs in initial consonant clusters (such as kw, kl, kr) and final clusters (ks, kt, lk, sk, rk). Word final consonant clusters are important due to morphology, as well. They are often used to mark grammatical endings, such as plurals, past tense, and possessives. K speech sound errors can greatly impact a child’s speech.

What is Velar Fronting?

Velar fronting occurs when a sound that should be made in the back of the mouth (a velar sound, like k or g sounds) is made in the front of the mouth instead. This is like saying “tea” for “key” or “doe” for “go”. Check out these minimal pairs for velar fronting .

What is Final Consonant Deletion?

Final consonant deletion is a speech pattern simplification in which a child may omit, or leave off, the ending sound in a word. Phonology students who demonstrate FCD of the final k sound might say “bay” for “bake”.

How to Teach the K Sound in Speech Therapy

Articulation tools for teaching the k sound.

There are a few tools a speech therapist may like to have on hand when teaching the k sound to young children in speech and language therapy. Typically, these tools include a typodont, a mirror, and a tongue depressor.

Strategies for Teaching the K Sound in Speech Therapy

I usually start by teaching the k sound in isolation before moving on to the word level.

I use simple, child-friendly wording to explain the correct position of the tongue. The first thing I do is show my student a typodont. I point to the area behind the lower front teeth and explain that this is where the tongue tip needs to touch. You can use your arched hand as a great way to visualize the tongue’s positioning. My fingers are the tongue tip, and my wrist is the “raised part” of the back of the tongue. A simple visual is often best!

More Articulation Strategies for K

If your student is making slow progress, try switching things up. You could use minimal pairs for fronting . You could also change how you are wording things or change the name of the sound. I sometimes call the k sound “the low t sound” to my students.

I have to give frequent reminders to my student to keep the tongue tip down. Often, my student will lift the tongue tip up towards the alveolar ridge during a t for k substitution. Simple reminders such as, “Uh oh! Your tongue went up!” paired with a hand motion are often helpful.

Once the child’s tongue is in the correct placement, I model the k sound.

Velar sounds can initially be quite challenging. It takes lots of practice!

After my speech student can say k in isolation, I try to have my students pair it with back vowels. Examples of back vowels are /u/ as in coo, or /ʊ/ as in cookie.

Then, I often practice k in the final position of words.

Speech Practice Ideas for the K Sound

Speech students love to play games and do hands-on activities! I frequently pair a dot marker with an articulation worksheet as we practice specific sounds. We love playing articulation tic tac toe . You could also hide articulation picture cards in sensory bins , or pull them out of fun containers or objects (think Ned’s Head !). An additional engaging way to practice the k sound is to create the letter K out of WikkiStix or play dough! Finally, another fun game idea is a k sound scavenger hunt.

Speech Sound Word Lists for the K Sound

The following word lists contain words with the initial k sound, medial k sound, final k sound, and k in consonant clusters (both initial and final position). These articulation word lists allow the SLP to easily work on a target sound in speech therapy. Quickly pull these word lists up during your speech therapy session and pair them with the game or activity of your choice.

Initial K Word List for Speech Therapy

Here is a list of initial k words to use in speech therapy:

Medial K Word List for Speech Therapy

Here is a list of medial k words to use in speech therapy:

Final K Word List for Speech Therapy

Here is a list of final k words to use in speech therapy:

• stomachache

Initial Consonant Clusters with K Word List for Speech Therapy

Here is a list of initial consonant cluster K words to use in speech therapy:

Final Consonant Clusters with K Word List for Speech Therapy

Here is a list of word-final clusters with the k sound for speech therapy (including /ks/, /kt/, /sk/, /sks/, and /rk/):

Initial K and Final K Picture Cards for Speech Therapy

These picture cards are perfect to use in speech therapy while working on the k sound! If your student has an articulation disorder, you will enjoy how these picture cards contain mouth visuals . They also provide appropriate homework for articulation as well.

Send them home, or use them during a speech and language therapy session. To assemble, you will simply print, laminate, and cut out the picture cards. After that, you can hole punch and attach them together using a binder ring for easy storage. These picture cards contain mouth visuals, initial k words, and final k words.

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Initial K Sound Words for Speech Therapy

Free initial k sound words for speech therapy printable flashcards featuring words with the "k" sound can be a useful tool for improving pronunciation and vocabulary. some of the flashcards included in this worksheets are:- car, cup, key, cake, cat, kangaroo, kite, king, kitchen, cactus, camera, cookie, castle and coat..

Download Printable Free Initial K Sound Words Articulation Flashcards

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K Word List

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BUNDLE Executive Function

✨ As seen on Boom Cards Featured Bundles!

This BUNDLE of executive function cards includes problem solving stories, social stories, predicting stories, sequencing stories, and flexible thinking stories.

Multiple types of wh- questions, why and how questions, labeling exercises, multiple choice, and drag and drop categorizations   are included throughout this bundle to encourage an in depth understanding of each executive functioning skill.

⭐️ 80 Problem Solving

• Multiple choice question
• 2 labeling exercises

⭐️   52 Social Stories

• Topics of social skills to choose from (feelings, manners, listening, sharing & turns, making friends, being kind)
• Sorting exercise
• 2 wh- questions

⭐️   50 Predicting (✨ as seen on Top Premium Boom Cards ✨)

• What questions
• How questions

⭐️   50 Sequencing

• 3 different what questions per story

⭐️   40 Flexible Thinking (✨ as seen on Top Premium Boom Cards ✨)

• Why questions
• Labeling exercise

Each deck includes a teaching slide and visual to help your students better understand executive function skills before practicing! 

CLICK HERE for Boom Cards Preview.

To use Boom Cards, you must be connected to the Internet. Boom Cards play on modern browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge). Apps are available for modern Android, iPads, iPhones, and Kindle Fires. For security and privacy, adults must have a Boom Learning account to use and assign Boom Cards. You will be able to assign the Boom Cards you are buying with "Fast Pins," (a form of play that gives instant feedback to students for self-grading Boom Cards). For assignment options that report student progress back to you, you will need to purchase a premium account.If you are new to Boom Learning, you will be offered a free trial of our premium account.Read here for details: http://bit.ly/BoomTrial .

Wh- Questions & Short Stories

15 short stories to target wh- questions, auditory comprehension, reading comprehension, recall, and more!

Multiple levels of difficulty, including both shorter and longer paragraphs for a variety of length and detail in the stories.

✨ As featured on Boom Cards Top Premium Decks ✨

⭐ Wh- Questions in Short Stories

• 15 Paragraph Short Stories
• 6 Wh- Questions for every story
• Stories are 4-9 sentences in length
• What, where, who, when, why, and how questions for every story

BUNDLE for Wh- Questions also available in Shine Speech Activities shop , which includes short stories and sentences!

CLICK HERE for Boom Cards Preview .

*This product contains the same activities as the PDF version. If you would like the PDF version, view   Wh- Questions & Short Stories, Auditory Comprehension .

To use Boom Cards, you   must   be connected to the Internet. Boom Cards play on modern browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge). Apps are available for modern Android, iPads, iPhones, and Kindle Fires. For security and privacy, adults must have a Boom Learning account to use and assign Boom Cards. You will be able to assign the Boom Cards you are buying with "Fast Pins," (a form of play that gives instant feedback to students for self-grading Boom Cards). For assignment options that report student progress back to you, you will need to purchase a premium account.   If you are new to Boom Learning, you will be offered a free trial of our premium account.   Read here for details:   http://bit.ly/BoomTrial .

Sentence Comprehension & Language Comprehension

Improve sentence comprehension, language and reading comprehension, and picture comprehension with 4 activities and over 125 prompts for speech therapy or classrooms! Target comprehending, receptive language, and more.

This resource includes   4 different ways to practice sentence comprehension , including wh questions, pictures, fill in the blanks, and more. Real photos are included in this resource.

⭐️ Sentence Comprehension:

• 40 sentence comprehension task cards with 3 questions each
• 30 real photo sentence comprehension prompts
• 30 multiple choice reading comprehension activities
• 30 fill in the blank language comprehension prompts

⭐️   Targeted Skills:

• Improve sentence comprehension skills
• Increase receptive and expressive language abilities
• Expand skills for understanding sentences and pictures

Story Builders & Create A Story

Improve creative writing with these narrative and short story prompts! This set of   70 short story builders   comes with character, location, event and time learning targets.

Help your students improve their stories and increase their creative narrative skills. There is space for students to type or write their stories, as well as an organizing task for story parts. 

Your students will have all the tools they need to create unique and imaginative stories!

⭐️ Includes:

• 70 story builders
• 3 practice levels
• A combination of who (character), where (location), what (event) and when (time) story part targets
• 36 story builders that include 2 story parts
• 20 story builders that include 3 story parts
• 14 story builders that include 4 story parts
• Story parts organizing task with pictures
• Space for creative writing and narrative generation
• Instructions on each page 

⭐️ Teaching slides:

• In depth information about the 4 included story parts
• Descriptions
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Save your time and energy, this set is NO PREP! Includes everything you need to elicit creative, engaging stories from your students.

Perfect for SLPs, teachers, or parents looking to expand language or writing in a fun and creative way!

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Targeted Word Lists for Speech Therapy Practice

The speech therapy word lists are perfect for anyone who needs practice with speech and language concepts . For any type of practice...

...you need words to get started .

Now I don't know about you, but when I need to think of targeted words to use...

...I suffer from spontaneous memory loss , or SML.

It's more common than you might think ;)

This page has words for anyone to practice articulation, apraxia, language, phonology, or stuttering principles . They will help children and adults be successful meeting their goals. 

Buy Flashcards for All Articulation Words for $69.99

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Each list of articulation sounds contains words with the target sound in the beginning, middle, and end position, including blends when applicable, as well as words that...

• are common and functional (words we use all day...everyday)
• are mostly 1 syllable (multi-syllabic words are more difficult)
• have a phonemic context that don't interfere with production of the target sound (most words)

If "R" is the problem sound using the word "Rope" makes saying the "R" sound harder because the "O" sound is considered a round vowel.

A round vowel is one where you round your lips to say it. Go ahead...try it by saying "O" as in "boat". You rounded your lips didn't you? I thought you might.

Children who have difficulty with the "R" sound tend to say the "W" sound...they say "Wabbit" instead of "Rabbit".

The "W" sound is considered a rounded sound too. Try saying the "W" sound without rounding your lips...you can't because that is how the sound is made.

So by pairing the "R" sound with the "O" sound like in the word "Rope", this makes the word extra difficult for a child who has a problem saying the "R" sound because the "O" that follows the "R" will naturally make them want to round there lips.

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Word Lists for K Sounds

• June 13, 2019
• Activity Type , Articulation , K Sound , Materials , Speech , Word Lists

Included are:

• Initial /k/ (1 syllable) – 50 words
• Initial /k/ (2+ syllables) – 50 words
• Medial /k/ – 50 words
• Final /k/ (1 syllable) – 50 words
• Final /k/ (2+ syllables) – 30 words

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Feed the Lion – S Sound

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Fact Checking Trump’s Mar-a-Lago News Conference

The former president took questions from reporters for more than hour. We examined his claims, attacks and policy positions.

By The New York Times

• Share full article

Former President Donald J. Trump held an hourlong news conference with reporters on Thursday at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, during which he attacked Vice President Kamala Harris, his general election opponent, criticized the Biden administration’s policies and boasted of the crowd size at his rallies. We took a closer look at many of his claims.

Trump claims his Jan. 6 rally crowd rivaled the 1963 March on Washington. Estimates say otherwise.

“If you look at Martin Luther King, when he did his speech, his great speech. And you look at ours, same real estate, same everything, same number of people. If not, we had more.” — Former President Donald J. Trump

This lacks evidence.

Mr. Trump was talking about the crowds gathered for his speech on Jan. 6, 2021, and for the “I Have a Dream” speech the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered during the March on Washington in 1963. While it is difficult to gauge exact crowd sizes, estimates counter Mr. Trump’s claim that the numbers gathered were comparable. Dr. King’s speech drew an estimated 250,000 people . The House Select Committee responsible for investigating the events of Jan. 6 estimated that Mr. Trump’s speech drew 53,000 people.

“She wants to take away your guns.”

— Former President Donald J. Trump

Ms. Harris, in 2019, said she supports a gun buyback program for assault weapons, not all guns. Her campaign told The New York Times recently that she no longer supports a buyback program.

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Peter Baker

“They take the strategic national reserves. They’re virtually empty now. We have never had it this low.”

This is exaggerated..

President Biden has indeed tapped the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to try to mitigate gasoline price increases , drawing it down by about 40 percent from when he took office, and it is currently at the lowest level since the 1980s. But it still has 375 million barrels in it now , which is not “virtually empty” nor is it at the lowest level ever.

“The vast majority of the country does support me.”

Mr. Trump never won a majority of the popular vote in either of the elections he ran in and never had the approval of a majority of Americans in a single day of Gallup polling during his presidency. An average of polls by FiveThirtyEight.com shows that he is viewed favorably by just 43 percent of Americans today and has the same level of support in a matchup against Vice President Kamala Harris.

Alan Rappeport

“They’re going to destroy Social Security.”

President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have pledged not to make any cuts to America’s social safety net programs. Mr. Trump suggested this year that he was open to scaling back the programs when he said there was “a lot you can do in terms of entitlements in terms of cutting.” He later walked back those comments and pledged to protect the programs. But if changes to the programs are not made, the programs’ benefits will automatically be reduced eventually. Government reports released earlier this year projected that the Social Security and disability insurance programs, if combined, would not have enough money to pay all of their obligations in 2035. Medicare will be unable to pay all its hospital bills starting in 2036.

Coral Davenport

“Everybody is going to be forced to buy an electric car.”

While the Biden administration has enacted regulations designed to ensure that the majority of new passenger cars and light trucks sold in the United States are all-electric or hybrids by 2032, the rules do not require consumers to buy electric vehicles.

“Our tax cuts, which are the biggest in history.”

The $1.5 trillion tax cut, enacted in December 2017, ranks below at least half a dozen others by several metrics. The 1981 tax cut enacted under President Ronald Reagan is the largest as a percentage of the economy and by its reduction to federal revenue. The 2012 cut enacted under President Barack Obama amounted to the largest cut in inflation-adjusted dollars: $321 billion a year.

“They’re drilling now because they had to go back because gasoline was going up to seven, eight, nine dollars a barrel. The day after the election, if they won, you’re going to have fuel prices go through the roof.”

The price of gasoline reached a low of $1.98 per gallon in April 2020, when Mr. Trump was president, chiefly as a result of the drop in driving in the first months of the Covid pandemic. It rose to a peak of $5 per gallon in June 2022, but has since steadily dropped to $3.60 per gallon in July 2024. The United States has steadily increased its oil production over the last decade, becoming the world’s largest producer of oil in 2018, a status it still holds today .

“If you go back and check your records for 18 months, I had a talk with Abdul. Abdul was the leader of the Taliban still is, but had a strong talk with him. For 18 months. Not one American soldier was shot at or killed, but not even shot at 18 months.”

Mr. Trump spoke with a leader of the Taliban in March 2020. In the 18 months that followed, from April 2020 to October 2021, 13 soldiers died in hostile action in Afghanistan.

“Democrats are really the radical ones on this, because they’re allowed to do abortion on the eighth and ninth month, and even after birth.”

No state has passed a law allowing for the execution of a baby after it is born, which is infanticide. Moreover, abortions later in pregnancy are very rare: In 2021, less than 1 percent of abortions happened after 21 weeks’ gestation, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report based on data from state and other health agencies. More than 90 percent of abortions happened within 13 weeks of gestation.

What Kamala Harris has said so far on key issues in her campaign

As she ramps up her nascent presidential campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris is revealing how she will address the key issues facing the nation.

In speeches and rallies, she has voiced support for continuing many of President Joe Biden’s measures, such as lowering drug costs , forgiving student loan debt and eliminating so-called junk fees. But Harris has made it clear that she has her own views on some key matters, particularly Israel’s treatment of Gazans in its war with Hamas.

In a departure from her presidential run in 2020, the Harris campaign has confirmed that she’s moved away from many of her more progressive stances, such as her interest in a single-payer health insurance system and a ban on fracking.

Harris is also expected to put her own stamp and style on matters ranging from abortion to the economy to immigration, as she aims to walk a fine line of taking credit for the administration’s accomplishments while not being jointly blamed by voters for its shortcomings.

Her early presidential campaign speeches have offered insights into her priorities, though she’s mainly voiced general talking points and has yet to release more nuanced plans. Like Biden, she intends to contrast her vision for America with that of former President Donald Trump. ( See Trump’s campaign promises here .)

“In this moment, I believe we face a choice between two different visions for our nation: one focused on the future, the other focused on the past,” she told members of the historically Black sorority Zeta Phi Beta at an event in Indianapolis in late July. “And with your support, I am fighting for our nation’s future.”

Here’s what we know about Harris’ views:

Harris took on the lead role of championing abortion rights for the administration after Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022. This past January, she started a “ reproductive freedoms tour ” to multiple states, including a stop in Minnesota thought to be the first by a sitting US president or vice president at an abortion clinic .

On abortion access, Harris embraced more progressive policies than Biden in the 2020 campaign, as a candidate criticizing his previous support for the Hyde Amendment , a measure that blocks federal funds from being used for most abortions.

Policy experts suggested that although Harris’ current policies on abortion and reproductive rights may not differ significantly from Biden’s, as a result of her national tour and her own focus on maternal health , she may be a stronger messenger.

High prices are a top concern for many Americans who are struggling to afford the cost of living after a spell of steep inflation. Many voters give Biden poor marks for his handling of the economy, and Harris may also face their wrath.

In her early campaign speeches, Harris has echoed many of the same themes as Biden, saying she wants to give Americans more opportunities to get ahead. She’s particularly concerned about making care – health care, child care, elder care and family leave – more affordable and available.

Harris promised at a late July rally to continue the Biden administration’s drive to eliminate so-called “junk fees” and to fully disclose all charges, such as for events, lodging and car rentals. In early August, the administration proposed a rule that would ban airlines from charging parents extra fees to have their kids sit next to them.

On day one, I will take on price gouging and bring down costs. We will ban more of those hidden fees and surprise late charges that banks and other companies use to pad their profits.”

Since becoming vice president, Harris has taken more moderate positions, but a look at her 2020 campaign promises reveals a more progressive bent than Biden.

As a senator and 2020 presidential candidate, Harris proposed providing middle-class and working families with a refundable tax credit of up to $6,000 a year (per couple) to help keep up with living expenses. Titled the LIFT the Middle Class Act, or Livable Incomes for Families Today, the measure would have cost at the time an estimated $3 trillion over 10 years.

Unlike a typical tax credit, the bill would allow taxpayers to receive the benefit – up to $500 – on a monthly basis so families don’t have to turn to payday loans with very high interest rates.

As a presidential candidate, Harris also advocated for raising the corporate income tax rate to 35%, where it was before the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that Trump and congressional Republicans pushed through Congress reduced the rate to 21%. That’s higher than the 28% Biden has proposed.

Affordable housing was also on Harris’ radar. As a senator, she introduced the Rent Relief Act, which would establish a refundable tax credit for renters who annually spend more than 30% of their gross income on rent and utilities. The amount of the credit would range from 25% to 100% of the excess rent, depending on the renter’s income.

Harris called housing a human right and said in a 2019 news release on the bill that every American deserves to have basic security and dignity in their own home.

Consumer debt

Hefty debt loads, which weigh on people’s finances and hurt their ability to buy homes, get car loans or start small businesses, are also an area of interest to Harris.

As vice president, she has promoted the Biden administration’s initiatives on student debt, which have so far forgiven more than $168 billion for nearly 4.8 million borrowers . In mid-July, Harris said in a post on X that “nearly 950,000 public servants have benefitted” from student debt forgiveness, compared with only 7,000 when Biden was inaugurated.

A potential Harris administration could keep that momentum going – though some of Biden’s efforts have gotten tangled up in litigation, such as a program aimed at cutting monthly student loan payments for roughly 3 million borrowers enrolled in a repayment plan the administration implemented last year.

The vice president has also been a leader in the White House efforts to ban medical debt from credit reports, noting that those with medical debt are no less likely to repay a loan than those who don’t have unpaid medical bills.

In a late July statement praising North Carolina’s move to relieve the medical debt of about 2 million residents, Harris said that she is “committed to continuing to relieve the burden of medical debt and creating a future where every person has the opportunity to build wealth and thrive.”

Health care

Harris, who has had shifting stances on health care in the past, confirmed in late July through her campaign that she no longer supports a single-payer health care system .

During her 2020 campaign, Harris advocated for shifting the US to a government-backed health insurance system but stopped short of wanting to completely eliminate private insurance.

The measure called for transitioning to a Medicare-for-All-type system over 10 years but continuing to allow private insurance companies to offer Medicare plans.

The proposal would not have raised taxes on the middle class to pay for the coverage expansion. Instead, it would raise the needed funds by taxing Wall Street trades and transactions and changing the taxation of offshore corporate income.

When it comes to reducing drug costs, Harris previously proposed allowing the federal government to set “a fair price” for any drug sold at a cheaper price in any economically comparable country, including Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Japan or Australia. If manufacturers were found to be price gouging, the government could import their drugs from abroad or, in egregious cases, use its existing but never-used “march-in” authority to license a drug company’s patent to a rival that would produce the medication at a lower cost.

Harris has been a champion on climate and environmental justice for decades. As California’s attorney general, Harris sued big oil companies like BP and ConocoPhillips, and investigated Exxon Mobil for its role in climate change disinformation. While in the Senate, she sponsored the Green New Deal resolution.

During her 2020 campaign, she enthusiastically supported a ban on fracking — but a Harris campaign official said in late July that she no longer supports such a ban.

Fracking is the process of using liquid to free natural gas from rock formations – and the primary mode for extracting gas for energy in battleground Pennsylvania. During a September 2019 climate crisis town hall hosted by CNN, she said she would start “with what we can do on Day 1 around public lands.” She walked that back later when she became Biden’s running mate.

Biden has been the most pro-climate president in history, and climate advocates find Harris to be an exciting candidate in her own right. Democrats and climate activists are planning to campaign on the stark contrasts between Harris and Trump , who vowed to push America decisively back to fossil fuels, promising to unwind Biden’s climate and clean energy legacy and pull America out of its global climate commitments.

If elected, one of the biggest climate goals Harris would have to craft early in her administration is how much the US would reduce its climate pollution by 2035 – a requirement of the Paris climate agreement .

Immigration

Harris has quickly started trying to counter Trump’s attacks on her immigration record.

Her campaign released a video in late July citing Harris’ support for increasing the number of Border Patrol agents and Trump’s successful push to scuttle a bipartisan immigration deal that included some of the toughest border security measures in recent memory.

The vice president has changed her position on border control since her 2020 campaign, when she suggested that Democrats needed to “critically examine” the role of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, after being asked whether she sided with those in the party arguing to abolish the department.

In June of this year, the White House announced a crackdown on asylum claims meant to continue reducing crossings at the US-Mexico border – a policy that Harris’ campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, indicated in late July to CBS News would continue under a Harris administration.

Trump’s attacks stem from Biden having tasked Harris with overseeing diplomatic efforts in Central America in March 2021. While Harris focused on long-term fixes, the Department of Homeland Security remained responsible for overseeing border security.

She has only occasionally talked about her efforts as the situation along the US-Mexico border became a political vulnerability for Biden. But she put her own stamp on the administration’s efforts, engaging the private sector.

Harris pulled together the Partnership for Central America, which has acted as a liaison between companies and the US government. Her team and the partnership are closely coordinating on initiatives that have led to job creation in the region. Harris has also engaged directly with foreign leaders in the region.

Experts credit Harris’ ability to secure private-sector investments as her most visible action in the region to date but have cautioned about the long-term durability of those investments.

Israel-Hamas

The Israel-Hamas war is the most fraught foreign policy issue facing the country and has spurred a multitude of protests around the US since it began in October.

After meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in late July, Harris gave a forceful and notable speech about the situation in Gaza.

We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering. And I will not be silent.”

Harris echoed Biden’s repeated comments about the “ironclad support” and “unwavering commitment” to Israel. The country has a right to defend itself, she said, while noting, “how it does so, matters.”

However, the empathy she expressed regarding the Palestinian plight and suffering was far more forceful than what Biden has said on the matter in recent months. Harris mentioned twice the “serious concern” she expressed to Netanyahu about the civilian deaths in Gaza, the humanitarian situation and destruction she called “catastrophic” and “devastating.”

She went on to describe “the images of dead children and desperate hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time.”

Harris emphasized the need to get the Israeli hostages back from Hamas captivity, naming the eight Israeli-American hostages – three of whom have been killed.

But when describing the ceasefire deal in the works, she didn’t highlight the hostage for prisoner exchange or aid to be let into Gaza. Instead, she singled out the fact that the deal stipulates the withdrawal by the Israeli military from populated areas in the first phase before withdrawing “entirely” from Gaza before “a permanent end to the hostilities.”

Harris didn’t preside over Netanyahu’s speech to Congress in late July, instead choosing to stick with a prescheduled trip to a sorority event in Indiana.

Harris is committed to supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression, having met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at least six times and announcing last month $1.5 billion for energy assistance, humanitarian needs and other aid for the war-torn country.

At the Munich Security Conference earlier this year, Harris said: “I will make clear President Joe Biden and I stand with Ukraine. In partnership with supportive, bipartisan majorities in both houses of the United States Congress, we will work to secure critical weapons and resources that Ukraine so badly needs. And let me be clear: The failure to do so would be a gift to Vladimir Putin.”

More broadly, NATO is central to our approach to global security. For President Biden and me, our sacred commitment to NATO remains ironclad. And I do believe, as I have said before, NATO is the greatest military alliance the world has ever known.”

Police funding

The Harris campaign has also walked back the “defund the police” sentiment that Harris voiced in 2020. What she meant is she supports being “tough and smart on crime,” Mitch Landrieu, national co-chair for the Harris campaign and former mayor of New Orleans, told CNN’s Pamela Brown in late July.

In the midst of nationwide 2020 protests sparked by George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer, Harris voiced support for the “defund the police” movement, which argues for redirecting funds from law enforcement to social services. Throughout that summer, Harris supported the movement and called for demilitarizing police departments.

Democrats largely backed away from calls to defund the police after Republicans attempted to tie the movement to increases in crime during the 2022 midterm elections.

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147+ Final K Speech Therapy Words for Articulation

Are you a speech-language pathologist or parent working on the k sound in the final position? This post has over 147 final k words for speech therapy that will help your student or child practice their k final sounds all in one place. 

Final K Words Speech Therapy

Below is a list of final k words to practice during your student’s speech therapy session or simply send the link to this website to a parent to practice at home.

Final Consonant Deletion

Is your child or student struggling with final consonant deletion of the final k sound? 

If so, a great way to work on final consonant deletion is to use minimal pairs to work on the difference between making the final k sound and deleting the final k sound. 

Here is a set of great minimal pair worksheets to help when working on the phonological process of final consonant deletion – Final Consonant Deletion Minimal Pairs – No Prep Final K Freebie by Nurture Speech Pathology .

If you’re on the hunt for a helpful visual or tactile cue for final consonants then be sure to check out this one by Panda Speech Therapy – End Sound Helper Freebie – for Final Consonant Deletion Phonological Processing by Panda Speech Therapy.

If your child or student does final consonant deletion on more than just the k sound then be sure to check out this freebie that focuses on final /p ,b, t, d, m, n, k, g, s, f/ – No Print Final Consonant Deletion Picture Scenes by Teach Speech 365 .

Correct Production

The final k sound is one of many back sounds. When working on the final k sound, a velar consonant, the first thing you want to do is pull your tongue to the back of the mouth and place it against the soft palate (the top of your mouth).

Once your tongue is in position then push air through your mouth while lowering your tongue towards the front of the mouth. 

By 2 years of age children will begin making the k sound and by the age of 3 years old the child will have mastered the sound according to the GFTA-2 Standardized sample.

If your child or student is struggling to place their tongue in the correct position you can use a tongue depressor to provide your child or student with a tactile cue.

Target Word

Here’s a list of final k articulation sounds for you to use in therapy or at home practice to work on your student or child’s new skill.

• For Example: peak, make, fork, steak, fake, lake, squeak, woodchuck, kayak, block, speak, leak, oak, poke, sneak, wreak, creek, pick, clock, sick

See full list of words, phrases, and sentences below.

Be sure to grab my one page freebie of final k sounds below. Simply scroll to the bottom of this post and grab your free copy!

Word Level: Final K Words Speech Therapy 

Initial position of words.

The initial k sound is at the beginning of a word. For example, “kite” or “care”.

Medial Position of Words

There are also medial k words, which have the k sound in the medial position of a word, such as “raccoon”, “racket”, and “bucket”.

Final Consonants

The final positions of words are when the target sound is at the end of a word. For example, “rock” or “dock”.

Final Words at Word Level

You can start at the auditory bombardment level, or syllable level, or start at pronunciation of the whole word.  Starting with single words is a great place to start and then you can adjust to go backwards towards syllable level or forward to the phrase level. 

Some young children enjoy using a dot marker as a fun way to practice their sound while working on their articulation communication disorder. 

For example they can put a dot under each of their final k sounds. 

I’ve also created an easy-to-download one-page overview of final k sounds below. Simply scroll down to the bottom of this post and download your free copy.

• 1 Syllable: peak, make, fork, steak, fake, lake, squeak, block, speak, leak, oak, poke, sneak, creek, pick, clock, sick, ask, elk, book, duck, honk, bark, cook, desk, streak, shrink, shrunk, shriek, squawk, think, black, track, break, check, quick, thank, drink, stick, thick, stuck, click, truck, brick, shook, crack, blank, clerk, knock, trick, stack, cheek, trunk, flock, snack, chalk, brisk, chick, shark, blink, whisk, stink, stork, work, back, look, week, bank, park, talk, walk, seek, rock, dark, weak, neck, pink, pack, milk, kick, lock, mask, hook, desk, sink, junk, pork, sank, hawk, tick, soak, peek, tuck, wink, ink, yak
• 2 Syllable: woodchuck, kayak, shipwreck, groundwork, heartbreak, schoolwork, sketchbook, broomstick, schoolbook, starstruck, moonstruck, salesclerk, framework, trademark, benchmark, livestock, horseback, housework, yardstick, guidebook, patchwork, racetrack, checkbook, crosswalk, flashback, clockwork, roadblock, boardwalk, scrapbook, throwback, sidetrack, hatchback, backtrack, awestruck, toothpick, beanstalk, drumstick, birthmark, pipsqueak, feedback, notebook, landmark, outbreak, homework, handbook, comeback, playback, textbook, teamwork, ballpark, paycheck, lipstick, sidewalk, woodwork, cookbook, shamrock, rollback, joystick, yearbook, sidekick, workbook, playbook, backpack, homesick, bookmark, gridlock, firework, haystack, cakewalk, nonstick, knapsack, songbook, sunblock, bareback, chipmunk, aardvark, beadwork, facemask, network, outlook, artwork, peacock, bedrock, payback, outback, hammock, potluck, padlock, soymilk, unstuck, restock, skywalk, ziplock, attack, unlock, unpack, unhook, untuck, mohawk
• 3 Syllable: laughingstock, quarterback, candlestick, crackerjack, pocketbook, buttermilk, needlework, candlewick, aftershock, lumberjack, turtleneck, meadowlark, meterstick, paperwork, paperback, hyperlink, riverbank, handiwork, metalwork, storybook, piggyback, interlock, disembark, multipack, overlook, asterisk, limerick, overwork, antilock, overcook
• 4 Syllable: cabinetwork, audiobook

Practice in Flash Card Mode Right Here from Your Computer!

SEE ALSO: 21 Best Reinforcement Games for Speech Therapy

Short sentences or phrases.

When working on final K sounds, it’s important to work on short phrases after your child or student has learned how to produce the sound at the word level. They should be able to achieve 80% accuracy for this skill before moving on to longer complete sentences.

Here is a list of final K word phrases to try:

Final K Words Speech Therapy in Phrases

Sentence Level: Final K Words Speech Therapy

After phrases the next level to work on is the final k sound in sentences. There are a few ways to practice at the sentence level.

For example, one way is to give your child or student a list of sentences to read aloud while they work on their final k sound. 

Another fun way to practice is to give your child or student pictures with their final k sound in them and then have them create a sentence about those pictures.

Below is a list of sentences to use with your child or students.

Final K Words Speech Therapy in Sentences

SEE ALSO: Free Articulation Games for Speech Therapy

Final k words speech therapy ideas, game boards.

Do you like working on your child or student’s articulation sound while having some fun? 

Board games are a perfect way to keep your students engaged while working on their sounds. 

A few board games worth trying are: Apples to Apples , Chutes and Ladders , or Go Fish to name a few.

Final T for Final K Sound

When your child or student substitutes the final k sound for a final t sound this is called velar fronting and they are taking a sound that is normally made in the back of the throat for the same sound that is made in the front of the mouth. 

An example of this would be saying the word “dot” instead of the word “dock”. 

One way to work on velar fronting of the final k sound would be to work on minimal pair words. By having your child or student have the words “dot” and “dock” side by side with a picture and then having your student practice saying each word and listening for the slight difference. 

Here are a few resources to get you started:

• Fronting & Backing Minimal Pairs (/k/ /t/ and /g/ /d/) by Rachel’s Speech Goodies – Four pages of kid friendly picture cards plus a page of words lists.
• Articulation Activity Go Fish | T and K Minimal Pairs | Speech Therapy by Speechies and Cream – 32 fun cards that can be used as a card game.
• Final Consonant Deletion Minimal Pairs – NO PREP Final K FREEBIE by Nurture Speech Pathology – a no-prep activity that will help your student with final consonant deletion.

Weak Syllable Deletion

Weak syllable deletion is when the child or student omits the unstressed or in other words the weak syllable within a multisyllabic word. 

For example, the weak syllable deletion of the final k sound in the word “sock” would be pronounced as the word “saw”.

One way to work on correcting weak syllable deletion is to use minimal pairs. So for example, you would provide the child with the words “saw” and “sock” next to each other with pictures and then have the student practice each word side by side.

• T/K minimal pairs by SLPMommyofApraxia – use these minimal pairs to help your students visualize what they are saying.
• Minimal Pairs Fronting/ Backing- /k/ /g/ and /t/ /d/ by Ellen Rector – you can use this activity as a game in your classroom.
• FREE /T/ and /K/ Minimal Pairs Speech Handout (Fronting/Backing) by TheSpeechScoop – These visual pictures are great for young learners.

Phonological Processes

If you’re interested in learning about more phonological processes be sure to grab my handy phonological processes sheets , which includes typical and atypical phonological processes. 

Does your child or student love to play Go Fish? Then be sure to grab our Go Fish board game for all sounds . 

If you’re on the hunt for word lists to practice. Be sure to scroll up on this page and see the word lists for practice. 

Also, be sure to click on the clickable words and practice using the interactive flashcards!

Faster Progress

Wish your child could make progress faster? 

Sometimes all you need is to practice consistently. Simply try practicing for at least 5 minutes a day.

Here is a list of 5 minute therapy ideas to work on the final k sound.

• At Home Word Lists for Articulation and Phonology for SLPs – Freebie by Natalie Snyders – this freebie includes a word list for final K as well as other letters.
• Word Study Work Board: Final /k/ Sound -ck, -k, -ke by Sarah Alisaleh – a great set of quick daily lessons that can be used for online learning as well.
• CVC final k words clothespin activity by everythingisspeechieinohio – 8 final k words are included in this fun activity.

SEE ALSO: 279+ Free Speech Therapy Digital Materials

Picture cards.

If you like using picture cards to practice your therapy then scroll to the bottom of this post and grab your free 20 picture cards to get started practicing today.

Or click on the words in the word list above that have a link attached to use the picture cards as flashcards to practice online right from your computer. 

A great way to practice is to use Boom Cards, which are a fun and engaging way to strengthen your child or student’s articulation skills.

Here are a few favorite boom cards to work on the final K sounds: 

• Free Boom Cards Apple Tree Articulation K Sound by The Speech Zone – K sound boom card that you can easily implement into your classroom.
• Easter Express for Articulation: K Sound (No Print)(Boom Card)(FREEBIE) by My Teletherapy Room – A fun Easter themed activity!
• Free Articulation Cards and Boom Cards (Cycles & Traditional) by Ausome Speech – No prep and digital. A perfect addition to your classroom.

Therapy Room

If you’re a speech therapist looking for final k words to practice with your clients then be sure to check some of the ideas below or our list above!

• Quack! Go Back! Speech Therapy Game with Final /k/ Cards by Speech Sprouts – a great activity for small groups in your classroom.
• Final K Sound -ck, -ke, -k – Word Pattern Play by Emily Fano – Passport2Teach – 3 different games to practice the final k sound.
• Word Final /K/ Truck Activity by Lisa McGregor – A fun way to practice single-syllable final k words.

In Conclusion: Final K Words Speech Therapy

We hope you have found this article helpful for working on your child or student’s final k sound. 

Be sure to grab your freebie of 20 words to start practicing 5 minutes a day!

<< Click here to download your free final K articulation practice pages! >>

Want even more final k speech therapy.

• 21 Best Reinforcement Games for Speech Therapy
• 261+ Free Ideas for Digital Therapy
• 917+ Best Free Boom Cards for Speech Therapy
• 11 Free Articulation Games for Speech Therapy
• Best Free Interactive PDF for Speech Therapy All-in-One

Want the Best of the Bests?

Be sure to check out our most popular posts below!

• 21 Best Reinforcement Games for Speech Therapy / Teletherapy
• Best IEP Resources
• 71+ Free Social Problem-Solving Scenarios
• 430+ Free Multisyllabic Words List Activity Bundle
• 432+ Free Measurable IEP Goals and Objectives Bank
• 279+ Free Speech Therapy Digital Materials
• 179+ Free Speech Therapy Wh-Questions Printable

Tuesday 22nd of March 2022

This is awesome!! Thank you!

Melissa Berg

Hi Lisa, thank you! You're so welcome!

These look great! Love that the pictures are actual photographs.

Hi Tammy, thanks so much! I'm glad you like the use of real photos as well. :)

Awesome list~

Thanks Cathy! Glad you like this list.

Big dad energy: How Harris got to Walz

Vice President Kamala Harris had just 16 days to pick someone she could be linked to forever. She ended up going with one of the options that she — and the rest of the world — knew the least. 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was a dark horse from the start, left off early lists of potential running mates. But no one used the 16 days since President Joe Biden stepped aside more effectively than Walz, who charmed Harris and national Democrats alike with a Diet Mountain Dew-fueled media tour that labeled the opposition as “weird” and won him a spot in history.

The choice will leave an indelible imprint on the image of Harris that is still forming for many Americans, who know her far less than they do Biden or former President Donald Trump, raising the stakes of a choice that can be difficult in the best of times, let alone under unprecedented time pressure.

In Walz, a gun-owning hunter who enlisted in the Army National Guard at 17, Harris sees a loyal governing partner who complements her background. The governor does not typically use a teleprompter, so had to practice with one Tuesday before his big speech at his debut rally in Philadelphia.

Harris did not know any of the candidates very well just three weeks ago. But after she whittled down her final list to Walz, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and held in-person interviews with them Sunday, Harris concluded she had the best personal rapport with Walz and was convinced that he would have her back and not let his personal ambitions get in the way.

“You also have to ask yourself at some point: Is this someone you would want to have lunch with every week for four years?” a White House official said.

Ultimately, people close to Harris say, it came down to trusting her “gut,” with an aide comparing it to finding a husband. No one was perfect, but Walz was seen as the best. 

The pick stunned many Democrats, including some top party donors, who were unfamiliar with the sleeper candidate.

“Once they read about him, they were impressed,” said Harris campaign national finance chair Chris Korge, who started fielding calls the moment the news broke. “I got a ton of calls today and not one of them negative. They loved how relatable he was.”

Now, Harris is betting that Walz’s Midwestern dad charm will win over America like it won over her team. 

This is the inside story of how Harris got to Walz, based on interviews with more than a dozen Democrats, several of whom requested anonymity to speak candidly about what happened behind the scenes.

A ticking clock 

Harris’ advisers did not wait for Biden to step aside.

With a looming deadline that Democrats concluded they had to meet to finalize their nominee, people close to Harris and outside allies began a few days before his announcement to start thinking about what her campaign might look like and started batting around names of potential running mates at daily meetings.

Almost immediately after Biden dropped out, her team concluded that it most likely had to be a middle-aged white man, for many of the reasons Barack Obama chose Biden as his running mate.

It’s not “rocket science,” said a person familiar with the Harris campaign’s thinking. “Let’s just face it. There’s a lot of sexist, racist white dudes out there in America who don’t like Trump but just need a little extra validation.”

They needed “someone who gives moderate Republican voters a place to go,” said another person familiar with the process. “The Nikki Haley voters that are like, ‘God, JD Vance is terrifying and Trump is horrifying, but I wasn’t really sure that Biden could do the job, and I’m not sure that she can do the job.’”

Nine names were initially selected to enter the vetting process, led by former Attorney General Eric Holder and former White House counsel Dana Remus. 

By last Thursday, Holder and Remus had compiled their findings for a meeting Friday with a panel of trusted confidants who conducted the first interviews. They included Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and former Rep. Cedric Richmond of Louisiana, a top Biden adviser who has remained on the Harris campaign. 

By Saturday, the team had whittled the list down to three names — Walz, Shapiro and Kelly — who were told to prepare for face-to-face meetings with Harris.

On Sunday, the black SUVs with out-of-state plates slipped through the gates of the Washington Naval Observatory, home to the vice president’s residence, on their way to the most important meeting of their occupants’ lives. 

Walz left his meeting feeling confident. Shapiro did not. 

“He wrestled with it Sunday,” said a person close to Shapiro, because he “loves his job” and, only two years in, has more he wants to do. “[He’s] all in for her, no matter where he sits,” the source added.

By the end of the weekend, Harris had been speaking so much with candidates and advisers that her voice was growing hoarse, and she took to carrying throat lozenges to the nonstop meetings.

Meanwhile, beyond the black iron fence of the observatory, the apparatus to support the eventual running mate began to whir to life. 

Former Biden State Department official Liz Allen was tapped to be the eventual running mate’s chief of staff, while “jump teams” were dispatched to the finalists in case they were chosen. Staffers at the campaign’s headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, began preparing graphics, videos, talking points and even stump speeches for each of the finalists. 

Aides tried to buy Harris as much time as possible, printing signs with different potential candidates and even changing party rules — ironically via a party committee Walz chaired — so she could make her pick after the party formally nominated her.

“People were like it was ‘The Bachelor’ playing out in real time,” Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., joked outside a polling place Tuesday.

Candidates who have gone through vetting processes in previous years describe it as a grueling and uncomfortable process that more than one have compared to a proctology exam. 

There are exhaustive questionnaires about the candidates’ legal, financial, political, personal, family and employment backgrounds, followed by hourslong interviews known as  “murder boards” at which dirty laundry is aired and hypothetical scenarios are presented to see how the candidates react. And then, maybe, they get to meet with the candidate for the actual job interview.

“It’s a grind of a process,” said former Housing Secretary Julián Castro, who was vetted to be Hillary Clinton’s running mate in 2016.

Loyalty to Biden

If Walz was the underdog, Shapiro was seen as the front-runner from the beginning, followed by Kelly — and all three ended up as finalists. 

In the small world of Democratic politics, the two governors are friends, and they attended a Bruce Springsteen concert in New Jersey last year, along with former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas, who served in the House with Walz and has been boosting him behind the scenes.

“Lori and I consider Tim and Gwen to be good friends of ours and we are excited for them and for the country to get to know the great people we know them to be,” Shapiro said in a statement Tuesday. 

Kelly had the most impressive résumé of any candidate, but many Democrats see him as an underwhelming speaker and personally cool.

Some Harris allies also felt he was not loyal enough to Biden in the trying weeks after his poor debate performance and believed he had not done enough to defend the administration’s border policies, according to a person familiar with the process.

Kelly praised Walz in a statement, noting that his wife, Gabby Giffords, served with Walz in the House. 

“Gabby and I are going to do everything we can to make Kamala Harris and Tim Walz the next president and vice president,” he said.

Kelly’s team did not respond to a request for additional comment. 

While Shapiro, a golden-tongued prosecutor with presidential ambitions of his own, attracted the most vocal support, he also saw the most public campaign against him on Harris’ short list — especially over his stance on Israel and his criticism of pro-Palestinian protesters.

But her team was not convinced that he or any of the other candidates could really deliver their home states. 

“Polling showed Shapiro wouldn’t help that much more than the others,” said a Democratic strategist familiar with the polling the party rushed to complete before Harris had to decide. “And bringing Gaza back into the foreground would just be awful all the way around. Nobody wanted to return to that.”

Other Harris allies raised concerns about his support for school vouchers, his handling of a sexual harassment claim against one of his closest former aides and a complicated legal case stemming from his time as attorney general.

But perhaps more important than any specific issue was concern that Shapiro’s personal ambitions could conflict with hers — something raised directly to Harris’ team by an adviser to Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who has clashed publicly with Shapiro.

“I would not want to be ahead of Josh Shapiro in the line of succession,” said a senior Democrat who has worked with him. 

Shapiro’s team did not respond to a request for additional comment. 

People close to Harris said that given the unusual way she was nominated and recognizing that internal dissent and a primary challenge are possible in 2028, from the beginning she was looking for someone who would be willing to stand behind her and defend her thick or thin.

“MAGA is just going to unleash. These are going to be terrifyingly crazy days. She needs someone who will be able to prop her up during hard times and someone who, when these memes take hold, when the deepfakes take hold, when all those things start happening, will be able to stand by her,” said a person familiar with the Harris campaign’s thinking.

Walz, on the other hand, is seen as an affable team player who came up in the military and the classroom, not the arena of power. 

He was seen as someone who would not “sabotage” her, as a person familiar with the vetting process put it, by leaking or talking behind her back should she become president.

White House officials took notice that he was one of the only ones who went to the cameras to publicly defend Biden after his tense July 3 meeting with Democratic governors after his poor debate performance.

Among Biden aides and advisers, the word most commonly used to describe Walz is “loyal.”

“She really does need someone who’s going to be a true partner to her, just like she was to President Biden,” said a person familiar with her thinking.

The case for Walz

Harris and Walz had met only a handful of times, most notably when she visited a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Paul in March.

But Harris and her team were watching as the candidates auditioned, in a way, through appearances on TV and the stump, and they were impressed as Walz became an overnight sensation by labeling Republican JD Vance as “weird” the day after Trump chose him.

The word showed up in a campaign news release two days after Walz used it, and then, a few days later, Harris herself used it at a fundraiser in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts, and it became widely used across the party.

“Shapiro looks and talks like the next Obama, which is what a lot of folks were excited about,” said Caitlin Legacki, a veteran strategist who has worked with moderate and Midwest Democrats.“Walz looks and talks like [Sen.] Jon Tester [of Montana], which gives us running room in suburban, exurban and maybe even rural places.”

On Capitol Hill, Minnesota Democrats began pitching him to reporters and colleagues — before realizing that no one had given Walz a heads-up about the effort.

“I had to call Tim, because I hadn’t actually talked to him about whether he might want to be VP or not,” Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., said. “So, kind of got the cart before the horse. ... It truly happened organically.”

And for Democrats concerned about Muslim and Arab voters, especially in Michigan, Walz’s history winning a state with a large Muslim community is a relief. 

“He doesn’t demean anybody that he represents, and that’s an important community in his state,” a Michigan elected official said.

While many Democratic officials scoffed at the voters who opted for “uncommitted” over Biden in this year’s presidential primaries, Walz defended them as “civically engaged” citizens.

And Democrats noted that the choice of Walz has the knock-on benefit of elevating Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who would become the first Indigenous female governor in American history if Walz steps down.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said Harris’ choice of Walz was a “brilliant” decision. He added that Walz has the skills to speak directly to the concerns of Midwestern voters, and that while Minnesota is a blue state, Democrats there work for it every year.

“It’s never easy,” Ellison said. “We don’t win just because we’re a blue state…We win because we knock on doors and talk to our neighbors and work together. And Tim Walz understands the Minnesota method of winning.”

Minnesota nice

While Walz came seemingly out of nowhere for many Americans, Minnesota Democrats who have known him for years said they are “not at all” surprised, as Sen. Tina Smith put it, to see Walz go from unknown to a household name in two weeks flat. They say that soon, the rest of America will see what she and other Minnesotans already know.

“He’s just a really interesting leader,” Smith said. 

Walz spent his last morning of relative normalcy with family, staff members and donuts at Eastcliff, the stately white mansion overlooking the Mississippi River in St. Paul’s leafy Merriam Park. The house, typically used by the president of the University of Minnesota, has been occupied by the governor’s family as their official residence undergoes renovations.

Wearing a black T-shirt, khakis and white sneakers under his signature camouflage baseball cap, Walz answered his cellphone and put it on speaker mode. 

“Listen, I want you to do this with me,” Harris said. “Would you be my running mate?”

He did not hesitate. 

“I would be honored, madam vice president,” he said. “The joy that you’re bringing back to this country, the enthusiasm that’s out there — it would be a privilege.”

Outside, neighbors marveled at the spectacle, saying Walz’s family has held several gatherings to apologize for the hubbub created by their presence. “He’s a very approachable guy and very, very down to Earth,” said Mike Veehof, who lives next door. 

After hanging up with Harris, Walz called his staff and climbed into an SUV, which took him to a chartered Embraer E-170 bound for Philadelphia and his first joint rally with Harris. Secret Service agents were waiting there to take him under their protection.

Alex Seitz-Wald is a senior political reporter for NBC News.

Yamiche Alcindor is an NBC News Washington correspondent.

Monica Alba is a White House correspondent for NBC News.